This oral history interview is an intimate conversation between two people, both of whom have generously agreed to share this recording with Oral History Summer School, and with you. Please listen in the spirit with which this was shared.

This interview is hereby made available for research purposes only. For additional uses (radio and other media, music, internet), please inquire about permissions.

All rights are reserved by Oral History Summer School.

Researchers will understand that:

  • Oral History Summer School abides by the General Principles & Best Practices for Oral History as agreed upon by the Oral History Association (2018) and expects that use of this material will be done with respect for these professional ethics.
  • Unless verbal patterns are germane to your scholarly work, when quoting from this material researchers are encouraged to correct the grammar and make other modifications maintaining the flavor of the narrator’s speech while editing the material for the standards of print.
  • All citations must be attributed to Oral History Summer School:
    Narrator’s Name, Oral history interview, YYYY, Oral History Summer School
Library

Melora Creager

June 19, 2014

|

Hudson, NY

Song

Recorded by

Sally Zwartz

This interview is available in-person only. Please get in touch if you would like to listen.
Is this your interview?
Click here to respond.
x
Summary:

This interview was recorded at 360 Warren St in Hudson. In it Melora talks about growing up in Emporia, Kansas. The adopted child of artistic parents, she grew up pre-Internet and studied music (se played the cello) from a young age. At 18 she moved to New York City to attend art school. She spent some 20 years in NYC, studying first art and then photography and eventually dropping out of college to pursue a career as a rock musician.  In describing her life in NYC she talks about her drag queen friends, working for jewellery company Erikson Beaman and being a musician, including a first experience of record-making with band Ultra Vivid Scene, signed to British label 4AD.

For the past nine years she has been living in Columbia County. She has two daughters and in the course of the interview speaks in particular about her older daughter, a teenager, and their relationship.

She also speaks about being in Hudson and spending time at Bliss Towers (‘the projects’) and her view of Hudson as a segregated place, unlike Troy where she lives.

Other topics discussed include feeling a misfit as a child, peer pressure, the financial and other struggles of being a professional musician, her difficult relationship with her ex-husband and their custody battle over their daughter, climate change and its likely effects

Some clarifications in case of confusion: Melora was born in Kansas City MO and grew up in Emporia, Kansas. She has bright red dreadlocks. Iris is the name of her poodle. Also, at the time of the interview she was wearing rings which sometimes clicked together when she moved her hands

SUBJECTS: Pre-internet Childhood, NY clubs and music in the 80s and 90s, drag queens, Erikson Beaman, Ultra Vivid Scene, British label 4AD, Bliss Towers, Troy, Hudson, stratification of society in Hudson (class, race); musical life in Hudson, Helsinki (music club in Hudson); schools.

Interviewer Bio:
Sally Zwartz

Sally is a PhD student in Gender Studies, Sexuality and Culture. Her project examines the role of story and story telling in the work of the Royal Commission into Institutional responses to Child Sexual Abuse, and arises from her work there as a narrative writer.

Additional Info:
Interview language(s):
English
,
Audio quality:
High

Audio Quality Scale

Low - There is some background noise and the narrator is hard to hear.

Medium - There is background noise, but the narrator is audible.

High - There is little background noise and the narrator is audible.

Permissions: 

This interview is hereby made available for research purposes only. For additional uses (radio and other media, music, internet), please click here to inquire about permissions.

Part of this interview may be played in a radio broadcast or podcast.

Oral history is an iterative process. In keeping with oral history values of anti-fixity, interviewees will have an opportunity to add, annotate and reflect upon their lives and interviews in perpetuity. Talking back to the archive is a form of “shared authority.”

Is this your interview?
Click here
to leave updates or reflections on your life, your interview or your listening experience.
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.